Eric Johnston - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Eric Johnston

Meta

Eric Johnston

JAPAN

May 20, 2004

Never in Japan, can kin ‘return’ here?

OSAKA -- Many Japanese newspapers, magazines and TV stations are reporting that the offspring of five Japanese who were abducted to North Korea in 1978 and repatriated in October 2002 will be “returning” to Japan if North Korea lets them leave.

JAPAN

May 14, 2004

COMJAN ‘abduction’ list grows -- despite lack of evidence

OSAKA -- On the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2003, 42-year-old Naruki Okita, operator of a small marine transport company in Taisho Ward here, showed up near the docks of Izumi Kita with his luggage in tow.

JAPAN

May 14, 2004

COMJAN ‘abduction’ list grows -- despite lack of evidence

OSAKA -- On the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2003, 42-year-old Naruki Okita, operator of a small marine transport company in Taisho Ward here, showed up near the docks of Izumi Kita with his luggage in tow.

JAPAN

May 2, 2004

U.S. looks to expand Japan’s military role

OSAKA -- On Nov. 19, 1953, then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon mounted the podium at a special meeting of the Japan-America Society in Tokyo.

JAPAN / History

May 2, 2004

U.S. looks to expand Japan’s military role

OSAKA -- On Nov. 19, 1953, then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon mounted the podium at a special meeting of the Japan-America Society in Tokyo.

JAPAN

Apr 29, 2004

U.S. seeks reconstruction aid from SDF in Afghanistan

OSAKA -- With the security situation in Afghanistan worsening, the U.S. State Department’s coordinator for the country voiced hope for increased Japanese participation, including military assistance for reconstruction efforts at the local level.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Apr 23, 2004

Ohta quizzed over ties with arrested meat exec

OSAKA -- The arrest of Mitsuru Asada, vice chairman of the Osaka Prefecture Meat Cooperative Association, has sent shock waves through Osaka’s political community and has put Osaka Gov. Fusae Ohta, who admits having met Asada on several occasions, on the defensive.

JAPAN

Apr 18, 2004

Scrap rat-on-foreigners Web site: Hyogo

KOBE -- Hyogo Prefecture has become the first local government to call on the Justice Ministry to abolish a contentious Web site that asks Japanese to report via e-mail any foreigners they suspect to be illegal aliens.

JAPAN

Apr 13, 2004

Osaka to keep funding pro-Pyongyang schools

OSAKA -- Osaka municipal officials said Monday that the city will continue to provide financial support for schools affiliated with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun), despite calls for the policy to be reconsidered.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Apr 8, 2004

Volunteer offers consultation to women trafficked to Japan

KOBE -- A volunteer probation officer and court interpreter in Kobe has begun a telephone consultation service for foreign women trafficked to Japan and forced into prostitution.

JAPAN

Mar 27, 2004

Kepco inks accord with COGEMA on MOX supply

OSAKA -- Kansai Electric Power Co. reached an agreement Friday with COGEMA, France’s state-owned nuclear fuel reprocessing company, to sign a contract possibly this summer for manufacturing mixed oxide-uranium fuel.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 27, 2004

Ex-North Korean spy wants hand in collapse of Kim’s empire

KITAKYUSHU -- On Aug. 30, 1993, four North Korean agents slipped over the 38th parallel into South Korea. Disguised as South Korean soldiers, their mission was to spy on U.S. and South Korean forces near Panmunjun.

JAPAN

Mar 17, 2004

Net, Kansai hotlines offer precautions

OSAKA -- Municipalities in the Kansai region have set up telephone hotlines and are providing information via the Internet on precautions against the bird flu virus, which infected six crows in Kyoto and Osaka prefectures.

JAPAN

Mar 13, 2004

Kin of abductees spooked by specter of Kerry in White House

OSAKA -- November’s U.S. presidential election will be watched with great interest and concern by relatives and other supporters of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea, who wonder what implications a Democratic victory might have for their cause.

JAPAN

Mar 6, 2004

Tanba kids stay cool amid bird flu as parents, merchants fret

TANBA, Kyoto Pref. -- As the bell rings to end the day, students at Komono Junior High School file out.

JAPAN

Mar 2, 2004

Bird flu drives chicken from Kansai menus

OSAKA -- Chicken was off the menu in many parts of the Kansai region Monday following reports that meat from chickens infected with the bird flu virus had been sold in the area’s restaurants and supermarkets.

JAPAN

Feb 27, 2004

Kansai in dire need of airport guidance

OSAKA -- With Kobe airport due to open next year, joining Kansai International Airport and the domestic hub in Itami, Kansai’s business and government leaders have formed a committee to figure out how to effectively operate the region’s three airports.

Japan Times

JAPAN / LABOR PAINS

Feb 12, 2004

Osaka firms turning to foreign workers

OSAKA -- The Imazato district of Osaka has long been home to a large concentration of small and midsize enterprises.

BUSINESS

Feb 7, 2004

Airport issues unresolved as forum ends

KYOTO -- The Kansai region’s top business leaders concluded their two-day annual Kansai Economic Seminar on Friday, calling for further regional cooperation aimed at attracting industries and promoting tourism and conventions.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 3, 2004

Osaka gubernatorial election characterized by voter apathy

OSAKA -- In an election marked by extreme voter apathy, Fusae Ohta was re-elected Sunday to a second term as Osaka governor by a huge majority.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.

What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI

Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports